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Jean Bugatti introduced his Type 57 in 1934 and it quickly became one of the very best sporting chassis available. It featured a gearbox that was fixed to the crankcase and serviced by a single-plate clutch, with the top three gears in constant mesh. This was the first time Bugatti used this type of configuration. The chassis featured a hollow-tube live front axle which housed a dual overhead camshaft eight-cylinder engine. The powerplant featured a slim squared-off block, angular machined cam covers, and meticulously fabricated ancillaries. The cams were driven by a set of helical-toothed gears, the long crankshaft was supported by five main bearings, and finger cam followers minimized side thrust on the valve stems.
A supercharged model, named the Type 57C, was added to the lineup in 1936. These models featured a stiffer frame, rubber-mounted engine, and a Roots-type compressor driven off the camshaft drive at the rear of the engine, running at 1.17 times engine speed. With a five-to-six psi boost, the engine offered 160 horsepower.
This particular example is a late production Type 57C. It was manufactured in Molsheim, France, in August 1939. It has a supercharged engine, number 109C, but the chassis was not initially stamped with a number, as sales of new Bugattis had stopped because of the fear of hostilities due to the onset of World War II. In 1940, like many other French businesses, the Bugatti factory was ordered to relocate.
Bugatti left for Bordeaux and was ordered to manufacture airplane parts. At the time, this was still an unnumbered chassis, and was included in the move. In 1941, it was listed as 'New Chassis, Engine 109C' at the Bugatti premises on the Boulevard Alfred Daney in Bordeaux. Later that year, it was returned to Alsace, as the Germans occupied France and expropriated the Bugatti factory there.
Near the close of 1941, Robert Diebolt acquired the chassis/engine 109C, which had then been given number 57841. This was the final Type 57 chassis number assigned.
Mr. Diebolt hid the car near his castle in Oberhausbergen for the remainder of the war.
After the war, in 1949, Robert Diebolt's son Michel removed the chassis from storage and got it running. The bodiless chassis was given wooden seats, and Robert Diebolt managed to register the car with so-called 'practice plates.'
On September 24, 1955, the car was officially registered with plate 2 DB 67.
Later in 1956, Mr. Diebolt came across one of the original eight cabriolet bodies built on the Type 57 chassis by the coachbuilder Letourneur et Marchand in 1938–1939. It is believed that body number 2951 had been mounted on Type 57 chassis 57645, from which it had just been separated when Mr. Diebolt found it. The body was then fitted to chassis 57841. At some point after the installation, 57841 was given the new upper-inlet supercharger with a downdraft carburetor.
Mr. Diebolt sold the completed car in 1957 to D. Glöckner, an American military officer stationed in the Frankfurt area in Germany. It is believed the Mr. Glöckner had the car brought to the United States. By 1962, it is believed to have been sold to Oliver C. Schmidt, in Northbrook, Illinois. In the early 1970s, Mr. Schmidt sold the 57C to Carlton Coolidge, who passed it on to Dr. Lawrence Arnstein in Atherton, California, later in the decade.
The current caretaker acquired the car in 1986.By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2017
A supercharged model, named the Type 57C, was added to the lineup in 1936. These models featured a stiffer frame, rubber-mounted engine, and a Roots-type compressor driven off the camshaft drive at the rear of the engine, running at 1.17 times engine speed. With a five-to-six psi boost, the engine offered 160 horsepower.
This particular example is a late production Type 57C. It was manufactured in Molsheim, France, in August 1939. It has a supercharged engine, number 109C, but the chassis was not initially stamped with a number, as sales of new Bugattis had stopped because of the fear of hostilities due to the onset of World War II. In 1940, like many other French businesses, the Bugatti factory was ordered to relocate.
Bugatti left for Bordeaux and was ordered to manufacture airplane parts. At the time, this was still an unnumbered chassis, and was included in the move. In 1941, it was listed as 'New Chassis, Engine 109C' at the Bugatti premises on the Boulevard Alfred Daney in Bordeaux. Later that year, it was returned to Alsace, as the Germans occupied France and expropriated the Bugatti factory there.
Near the close of 1941, Robert Diebolt acquired the chassis/engine 109C, which had then been given number 57841. This was the final Type 57 chassis number assigned.
Mr. Diebolt hid the car near his castle in Oberhausbergen for the remainder of the war.
After the war, in 1949, Robert Diebolt's son Michel removed the chassis from storage and got it running. The bodiless chassis was given wooden seats, and Robert Diebolt managed to register the car with so-called 'practice plates.'
On September 24, 1955, the car was officially registered with plate 2 DB 67.
Later in 1956, Mr. Diebolt came across one of the original eight cabriolet bodies built on the Type 57 chassis by the coachbuilder Letourneur et Marchand in 1938–1939. It is believed that body number 2951 had been mounted on Type 57 chassis 57645, from which it had just been separated when Mr. Diebolt found it. The body was then fitted to chassis 57841. At some point after the installation, 57841 was given the new upper-inlet supercharger with a downdraft carburetor.
Mr. Diebolt sold the completed car in 1957 to D. Glöckner, an American military officer stationed in the Frankfurt area in Germany. It is believed the Mr. Glöckner had the car brought to the United States. By 1962, it is believed to have been sold to Oliver C. Schmidt, in Northbrook, Illinois. In the early 1970s, Mr. Schmidt sold the 57C to Carlton Coolidge, who passed it on to Dr. Lawrence Arnstein in Atherton, California, later in the decade.
The current caretaker acquired the car in 1986.By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2017
2017 Gooding & Company : Pebble Beach
Pre-Auction Estimates :
USD $1,500,000-USD $2,000,000
Sale Price :
USD $1,512,500
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Auction Sales
Recent Sales of the Bugatti Type 57
(Data based on Model Year 1939 sales)
1938 BUGATTI TYPE 57C ARAVIS 'SPECIAL CABRIOLET' Chassis#: 57768 Sold for USD$6,605,000 2024 Gooding & Co: Selections From The Mullin Collection Auction | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet Project Chassis#: 57751 Sold for USD$295,032 2023 Bonhams : Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet in the style of Corsica Chassis#: 57838 Sold for USD$527,500 2022 RM Sothebys : Monterey | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio by Gangloff Chassis#: 57769 Sold for USD$577,000 2022 RM Sothebys : Monterey | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Special Cabriolet by Gangloff Chassis#: 57798 Sold for USD$1,545,000 2022 RM Sothebys : Monterey | |
1939 BUGATTI TYPE 57 GALIBIER Chassis#: 57752 Sold for USD$434,000 2022 Gooding & Company : Amelia Island Auction | |
1939 Bugatti 57 Cabriolet 4 places par Vanvooren Chassis#: 57780 Sold for USD$575,368 2020 Artcurial Motorcars : Monaco | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Gangloff Chassis#: 57731 Sold for USD$875,938 2020 RM : The European Sale featuring the Petitjean Collection | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio by Gangloff Chassis#: 57834 Sold for USD$797,000 2020 RM Sothebys : Amelia Island Auction | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C coupé Atalante Chassis#: 57624 Sold for USD$3,556,420 2018 Artcurial : Retromobile | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Cabriolet Chassis#: 57841 Sold for USD$1,512,500 2017 Gooding & Company : Pebble Beach | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Letourneur et Marchand Chassis#: 57587 Sold for USD$1,017,500 2017 RM Sotheby's : Arizona Auction | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Gangloff Chassis#: 57731 Sold for USD$746,704 2016 RM Sotheby's : Monaco | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Three-Position Drophead Coupe Chassis#: 57809 Sold for USD$913,000 2011 Automobiles of Arizona by RM Auctions | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Faux Cabriolet 'Charmaine' Chassis#: 57787 Sold for USD$503,611 2009 RM Auctions - Automobiles of London | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Chassis#: 57806C Sold for USD$396,000 2008 Gooding & Company | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Chassis#: 57624 Sold for USD$880,000 2008 Gooding & Company | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Chassis#: 57749 Sold for USD$1,930,000 2004 Bonhams - MOTOR CARS |
Bugatti Type 57s That Failed To Sell At Auction
1939 Bugatti Type 57's that have appeared at auction but did not sell.
Vehicle | Chassis | Event | High Bid | Est. Low | Est. High |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet by Letourneur et Marchand | 57587 | 2024 RM Sothebys : Arizona | $900,000 | $1,200,000 | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio Cabriolet | 57836 | 2020 Bonhams : Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais | $1,350,000 | $1,650,000 | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Galibier | 57752 | 2009 Pebble Beach Auction : Gooding & Company | $275,000 | $350,000 | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C | 2009 Automobiles of Amelia Island | $380,000 | $550,000 | $750,000 | |
1939 Bugatti Type 57C Faux Cabriolet Charmaine | 57787 | 2008 Sports & Classics of Monterey by RM Auctions | $375,000 | $600,000 | $750,000 |
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1939 Bugatti Type 57
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